Goldsmith said it could take some time to bring cases against the remaining dispensaries. The City Attorney’s Office would continue with its next group of filings soon and more will follow that.

“Although we realize not all will necessarily be shut down immediately, we and the community are turning to the courts to help us get a handle on this problem,” he said.

The flow of legal action comes two months after the San Diego City Council rescinded restrictions on the businesses rather than pay up to $1 million for a public vote. Council members were forced to acquiesce after a coalition of medical marijuana advocates collected enough signatures to place a repeal on the ballot.

Since, the number of dispensaries increased to a high of about 187 from 160, city officials said. Employees at all 12 collectives named in the filings were unavailable, unaware of the lawsuits or declined to comment.

Attorney Jessica C. McElfresh, who represents four of the 12 dispensaries, said the city errored in three of the filings. McElfresh said the directors of one collective in the 4000 block of Park Boulevard told city attorneys in a certified notice that they were relocating. Two on El Cajon Boulevard were not within 600 feet of a school, she said.

“We respect the law but there’s a factual dispute that’s going to require airing,” she said. “Our evidence supports that those two locations are legal under state law.”

McElfresh added that several attorneys have tried to settle their differences with the city but were met with resistance in most cases.

“Unfortunately, rather than having a settlement or discussion, we’re going to have to flesh this out and that’s just a shame,” she said. “It’s a waste of taxpayer money and time.”

The Development Services Department is responsible for interpreting and applying the city’s zoning ordinances. In 2009, department officials determined that medical marijuana dispensaries don’t fit within any of the existing zones.

Complaints to code officers are forwarded for review to the City Attorney’s Office.

After rescission of the ordinance, the circumstances reverted to the previous standard that no dispensaries are allowed to operate within the city limits, Goldsmith said.

“We have an untenable situation right now and a lot of policy conflicts,” he said. “Marijuana distribution is illegal under federal law. If the federal government enforces its laws, there can be serious consequences to dispensaries and the owners of their buildings. Yet, medicinal marijuana is legal under state law under certain circumstances. In the city of San Diego, dispensaries aren’t permitted in any zone.”

Lawyers for the dispensaries said their clients’ collectives could fit within zones relating to pharmacies, medical offices, commercial distribution centers, wholesale distributions centers and agriculture. And, even if they could not, the city could not legally ban or prohibit them under state law.

John Murphy, another attorney representing patients’ associations, has said the city’s position amounts to a de facto ban.

Under the law, Goldsmith said a judge could craft interim rules that would shut down violators while respecting state laws.

“We are looking to the courts for help on this issue as there really is nowhere else to turn,” he said. “Exercising judicial discretion can help our community deal with this issue.”

Since August 2010, some 31 medical marijuana dispensaries were shut down as a result of involvement by the City Attorney’s Office. Five court actions were filed against property owners resulting in their tenants shuttering the facilities.

The Patient Care Association — one of the groups successful in overturning the ordinance — said it was continuing to work on new city regulations that wouldn’t limit dispensaries to far-flung industrial areas, said spokesman Bob Selan of Los Angeles, CEO of Kush Magazine.

Said Selan: "I am sorry that this has come down in the form of lawsuits rather than negotiation."